Oh boy...this game is an absolute mess. I usually don't review negatively or review stuff I don't finish, but I can't play this game. It's a sprite flickering mess of a game and the first level's music is ear grating.

My understanding is you are to lead Yuko to something while an arrow on your HUD acts as a sort of radar and you attack enemies as you platform around...this was all I could grasp of the game from the first and only level I played. I couldn't get anywhere due to the sprite flickering of the enemies and their projectiles doing the same, combined with the odd scrolling and it makes for a frustrating game.

Honestly couldn't tolerate the game at all.

At this point I had played the MSX version (which I REALLY didn't like) and the Switch version (which is a remake) and here with the Genesis version, I believe it's a really good port that doesn't really lack in much.

Since this isn't a long or deep game I can only say so much.
I really do like the look of the cutscenes, it has that 80's anime style with Japanese and English subs which really is pretty decent and it adds to the charm.

The levels actually look like something out of Castlevania or Super Ghouls and Ghosts at times, very other worldly, but not quite dark and demonic.

The music is actually pretty okay, it's the Genesis sound chip, so you're bound to get a mix of really good bass that adds to the music, or really tinny sounds that don't ruin the music, but aren't quite complimentary.

The gameplay isn't anything special, it's side scrolling with some platforming and hack-n-slash, you find power ups that give you different attack options and magic as well to take down enemies with a boss at the end of each level, see nothing crazy new.

The only issue I have is with the story, to my knowledge this is the first of the Valis series, but some of the dialogue makes it feels like there's a manga or book the prequels some of this stuff and explains it, but that's the only issue I had.

I honestly enjoyed the game despite how short it was and it's a great port especially when put beside it's original.

Oh boy....okay...the entire time I was playing this game I had two thoughts going through my head. This game is kinda cute and it's at least not as bad as Valis: The Fantasm Soldier on the MSX...which is pretty faint praise. I'll start with the positive stuff and move on to the issues with the game.

As I said before in the past reviews of the series, I never really liked the story, and with this game at least it was simple and very short of a story that it didn't bug me at all. I really liked seeing chibi style sprites of the old bosses and characters as well as Yuko herself. It's quite colorful of a game and felt like an anime shorts cartoon.

The gameplay is a double edged sword in spots, I'll stick to the positive. I actually adored the option to change armors on the fly and each of them had their own stats and also effected the sort of "beam" your sword uses, which you can also change whenever you like, it was a good way to give you some strategy freedom as well as reference the different outfits in all the past games and concept art.

That's about it for the good stuff, and it's not even like the bad stuff is massive either...

- The controls are waaay too floaty, you slip and slide and float jump everywhere so you take hits more than you should, because along with that, the screen should have been pulled back some so you can see.

- The bosses range from absolutely brain dead to complete frustration due to their beams and animations taking up too much screen with little to no option to answer their attacks, the game has no in-between balance there.

- I ran into a glitch were my "special power" was at 3 uses and it wouldn't activate no matter what I did or pressed, I used one at the start of the game by accident and somehow the game locked me out of using anymore the rest of the game.

- The music is forgettable, like nothing stood out at all and felt like background noise.

- I don't know if it's a translation issue but D- Power and A-Power are flipped I think...I would assume D-Power is defense and A-Power is attack, but it's actually the reverse...I only learned that due to the instruction book halfway through the game.

This game wasn't awful to play exactly, it just needed more to it and some balancing. I wouldn't be rough on it if it was a Game Gear or Game Boy release where it seems it would fit better, but it's a Genesis release and doesn't feel like the right amount of effort was given to it and I don't think this is a good example of the series...but again it's leagues better than the Valis MSX game, so it's doing something right.